The Dark Stuff is an online music magazine and podcast that focuses primarily (though not exclusively) on independent artists that perform in Omaha, Nebraska and the Midwest.
Welcome back, friends. Thanks, as always, for watching my videos. This video compiles my short clips of Buffalo Tom performing at the Outlandia Music Festival on August 10, 2024. Despite being a fan of the band for nearly 35 years, this was the first time I was able to see Buffalo Tom in concert.
I was working at the festival as the stage manager, so these clips are shot either from the pit or from the side of the stage. Have you seen my video on the entire Outlandia 2024 festival: https://youtu.be/X0ba38CR1-c?si=1STbt0BXtOe-pmks.
Welcome back, friends. Thanks, as always, for watching my videos. This week's video is my behind the scenes recap video of this year's Outlandia Music Festival. Since the festival's inception in 2022, I have been fortunate enough to work as the stage manager for the two day event. So, this video will show you a little peak behind the scenes in the set up of the festival, as well as some close up video of many of the artists that performed.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated this year, and we didn't reach skin melting temperatures. All of the bands were excellent, and their accompanying crews were great to work with. My personal favorite set this year was from Buffalo Tom. I've been a fan for nearly 35 years, but had never seen the band live until now. By the way, if you are a BT fan, did you see my catalog ranking video on them: https://youtu.be/sWJFjR8UgpY?si=ZgwqLC5H1uAffmk3.
Unfortunately, Dinosaur Jr. was forced to cancel at the last minute due the death of a very close friend of J. Mascis. Buffalo Tom, Flipturn, and The Revivalists each played an extra 15 minutes to make up for the absence (to the extent it could be). While speaking to Chris Colbourn of Buffalo Tom before the show, he told me that J had planned to join Buffalo Tom onstage to play a couple of songs with them. They are old friends, and in fact, J. Mascis produced the first two Buffalo Tom albums way back in the 1900s.
Here are all the artists who performed this year: The Flaming Lips, Men I Trust, The Faint, Vacations, Twinsmith, Ex Lover, The Head and The Heart, The Revivalists, Flipturn, Buffalo Tom, Devotchka, and The Eye.
Today's video is a bit of a wrap-up of all things Dark Stuff from the last week -- it's This Year's Week! I'll work on that...
We begin with a trip to Memorial Park in Omaha to see the legendary vocalist from The Who, Roger Daltrey. The free show was sponsored by the City of Omaha and featured post-show fireworks for Independence Day. Opening band, Inhaler, featured the son of U2 frontman, Bono. This meant that, in Omaha, we celebrate our independence with artists from UK and Ireland.
This week marks the anniversary of the original KISS lineup (Ace, Gene, Peter, Paul) reuniting for its first show. June 28, 1996 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit Rock City. I was there! And every year, I celebrate accordingly.
Hey, have you subscribed to my other channel, Rock N Roll Book Club, yet? You really should. On the next episode, we are discussing "Rebel Girl" by Kathleen Hanna. Been listening to a ton of Bikini Kill lately. Can't wait to talk about this book!
Picked up a couple of things on a recent trip to Homer's, but I'm still waiting for my copy of Buffalo Tom's newest, Jump Rope, to arrive.
I caught the pilot episode of Orphan Black: Echoes starring Krysten Ritter. I really liked the original Orphan Black with Tatiana Maslany. This new "version" of the story seems decent. But I'll probably give it a few more episodes before deciding if it's something I plan to discuss on the channel.
Lastly, I have brought back The Dark Stuff playlist! I wasn't sure that anyone cared, so I stopped doing them and deleted most of the old ones. Then I found out that people actually do listen to those. Okay, message received.
Fans of Alternative Music from the 1990s no doubt have some fond memories of the band, Buffalo Tom. They were the quintessential "college rock" band; and the albums 'Let Me Come Over' and 'Big Red Letter Day' were a big part of the soundtrack of the "Alternative Nation" (R.I.P.) and the '120 Minutes' eras.
Buffalo Tom emerged from the same Boston/Northeast US music scene that brought the world Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, The Lemonheads, Throwing Muses, The Lemonheads, and many others. While BT may not have had the mainstream success of some their peers, the band's 90s albums rank among the era's best. It's not possible to discuss the best 90s music without throwing in singles like "Soda Jerk," "Taillights Fade" or "Velvet Roof."
At the band's commercial peak, Buffalo Tom's music was on numerous TV and movie soundtracks, most notably in 'My So Called Life.' However, this band was much more than background music to television shows about angsty teens.
Over the course of their nearly 40 year career, Buffalo Tom has made some of the most compelling, guitar rock of any era. Though the group's output has slowed down quite a bit, BT has just released their 10th album, Jump Rope, and will be touring this Summer ('24).
Buffalo Tom's current line-up is the exactly the same as when they started back in 1986:
Bill Janovitz, guitar/vocals
Chris Colbourn, bass/vocals
Tom Maginnis, drums
Buffalo Tom will be appearing at the Outlandia Festival along with The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr., The Head and the Heart, and many more.
Check out my radio show, New Day Rising, today from 2:30-5 pm Central. In the Omaha area, the show is on 89.7 FM. For everyone else, it is streaming live at 897TheRiver.com.
Today, I will be bringing you music from Death From Above 1979, PJ Harvey, The Dears, Maximum Balloon, Cold War Kids, plus an artist spotlight on Buffalo Tom.
From 1989, when I first heard them, until about 1995 or so, Buffalo Tom was among my favorite bands. BT's sound began as a cross between Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur Jr, and over the course of its career, an acoustic or folk element could be found as well. Records like Birdbrain and Let Me Come Over still rank among my favorites. By the late 90s, with its popularity shrinking, Buffalo Tom called it a day. The break-up lasted nearly a decade before the band returned with new music in 2007. The video I have posted today is for one of my favorite songs from Birdbrain called "Fortune Teller."
Buffalo Tom is on the verge of releasing another new record. It will be called Skins. I just found out that band leader Bill Janovitz has his own blog where he posts rare BT stuff that you likely won't find anywhere else. Recently, he posted some live recordings of Buffalo Tom with Grant Hart (Hüsker Dü). His twitter address is @billjanovitz.
